Eric Kang

Great discussion with Laurence Iliff from Automotive News last week. We covered several themes that continue to define where the global auto industry is heading—and why China remains the reference point, not just a competitor. Key takeaways from our conversation: 🔹 China is no longer “catching up.” It is setting the pace on EVs, software-defined vehicles, supply-chain integration, and speed-to-market. The competitive gap is now structural, not cyclical. 🔹 The real disruption is organizational, not technological. China’s advantage comes from ecosystem orchestration—what I often describe as Tier-0.5 logic—where hardware, software, and manufacturing are co-developed rather than sequentially integrated. 🔹 EVs are just the entry ticket. The battleground has shifted to software architectures, AI-enabled features, cost discipline, and the ability to scale platforms globally. 🔹 Western OEMs face a strategic choice. Compete on legacy processes and incrementalism—or rethink operating models, partnerships, and decision velocity to match a very different system logic. 🔹 Globalization isn’t ending—it’s being re-written. The next phase will be defined by selective localization, ecosystem partnerships, and cross-border technology flows—not simple export models. More to come. #Automotive #ChinaAuto #EVs #MobilityTransformation #Automobility #Tier05 #SoftwareDefinedVehicles #GlobalCompetition #AutomotiveNews

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Volkswagen is facing criticism and legal challenges from its U.S. dealer network due to the sales model of its new brand, Scout Motors. Scout plans to sell cars directly to consumers (bypassing dealers), a model similar to Rivian and Lucid Motors. However, Volkswagen dealers believe that since Scout belongs to the Volkswagen Group, vehicles should be sold through independent franchised dealers as per regulations. Currently, some dealers have already filed lawsuits, with the latest case attempting to be certified as a class action.

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96% of BEV owners say they would consider purchasing or leasing another BEV as their next vehicle, says a new JD Power study, even as the broader EV market experiences policy driven headwinds. See EVinfo.net's article: https://lnkd.in/gf5T_PgM According to the 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Ownership Study, overall satisfaction among BEV owners has reached its highest level since the study launched in 2021. The gains come despite a sharp decline in EV market share following the expiration of the federal tax credit in September 2025. Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power, said advances in battery technology, vehicle performance, and charging access have pushed satisfaction to record highs. Importantly, most current owners say their next vehicle will likely be electric regardless of prior tax incentives. Public charging satisfaction showed the largest improvement. Scores for premium BEVs rose to 652 on a 1,000 point scale, while mass market BEVs increased to 511, year over year gains of 101 and 115 points, respectively. Expanded infrastructure and better charger availability drove much of the improvement. Vehicle quality also improved. Premium BEVs reduced total problems per 100 vehicles to 75.0, the strongest performance recorded for that segment in the study. Mass market BEVs posted 92.2 PP100. Fewer interior rattles, improved driver assistance systems, and reduced exterior noise complaints contributed to the gains. BEVs continue to outperform plug in hybrid electric vehicles in overall satisfaction. Premium BEVs scored 786 and mass market BEVs 727, significantly higher than comparable PHEVs, particularly in cost of ownership. Unlike hybrids, BEVs avoid engine related maintenance entirely. The study, conducted in partnership with PlugShare, surveyed 5,741 owners of 2025 and 2026 model year BEVs and PHEVs between August and December 2025. NEARLY EVERY EV driver says they'll NEVER go back to gas. This is just another factor out of a whole slew of reasons why another EV boom is coming to North America. EVs provide cleaner air and lower costs. Along with renewable energy, EVs enhance national security. A recent study proved used EVs as the cheapest car to own over a 7-year period. Nearly every new EV model offers greater range, shorter charging time, and more features than the last. One example is the new Chevy Bolt charges more than 2x faster than the previous Bolt. EVinfo.net is an EV-influencer led publication, offering sponsored articles, interviews and more to the EV industry. See samples below: https://lnkd.in/gH5Gdqb7 Don't miss the 8th EV Charging Infrastructure Summit - North America: West, February 24-25, 2026 in San Francisco, Organized by the Smart Grid Observer.  Enter the discount code EVINFO for 15% off when registering online. https://lnkd.in/gyaC_-UH #electricvehicles

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General Motors hires new head of strategy from Lucid Motors:  GM said on Monday that Claudia Gast will be the automaker's deputy chief financial officer and vice president of strategy, corporate development and technology partnerships. In the role, Gast will help shape GM’s long-term strategic direction while identifying and developing partnerships across technology, mobility and innovation-focused sectors. #electricmotors #electricandhybridvehicles https://lnkd.in/gGaF3KA4

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The Candor Circles: Spotlight Edition Frank Jaskulke Takes the Hot Seat October 15 | 1-3 PM | Osborn370 Lake Vermilion Room After 19 years building Medical Alley's ecosystem, Frank Jaskulke faces his biggest challenge yet: How do you embrace AI and digitization without losing the human creativity that actually saves lives? The Setup: For 2 hours, Frank sits alone facing 3-4 expert advisors who will dissect his core dilemma. No other executives. No hiding. Just Frank wrestling with the question every leader faces but few admit. His Challenge: "Medtech is racing toward AI everything; automated diagnostics, algorithmic decisions, digital first strategies. But I've built my career on human creativity and connection. How do I help startups leverage AI's power without sacrificing the human spark that drives real innovation?" Frank has influenced $1.5B in startup funding by believing that people, not algorithms, create breakthroughs. Now he's at Avio Medtech Consulting, trying to prove that in an AI-dominated future, human creativity isn't obsolete - it's the differentiator. The tension is real: AI promises efficiency. Human creativity delivers innovation. Digitization scales fast. Human connection builds trust. Algorithms reduce risk. Humans take the leaps that matter. Watch someone who's mastered the art of human connection face advisors who'll challenge whether that's enough in a world where AI can diagnose cancer better than doctors. The Candor Circles: Where leaders stop pretending they have all the answers. Frank says he "hangs out with smart people who save lives." On October 15, he'll discover if human creativity still matters when machines get smarter every day. P.S. - Everyone's talking about AI replacing jobs. Frank's asking the harder question: What happens when AI replaces creativity? His answer might change how you think about innovation. #TheCandorCircles #MedicalAlley #FrankJaskulke #AIvsHuman #MedTech #HumanCreativity #DigitalTransformation #RideTheNextWave

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Aptera Motors has secured a $75 million equity line of credit (ELOC) commitment from New Circle Principal Investments LLC, an affiliate of New Circle Capital. This financial backing represents a significant step for Aptera as it continues to advance its innovative automotive solutions.

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Why AI’s Biggest Models Still Can’t Close a Car Deal A look at how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok handle automotive e-commerce—and why buying a car remains harder for AI than almost any other consumer transaction.

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Every market has its sweet spot. For many industries, it’s not full EVs. It’s hybrid architectures that balance range, uptime, and ROI—especially when powered by compact, high-torque axial flux motors. As one example: numerous supercars are adopting hybrid systems, with the majority incorporating axial flux motors in their next-generation vehicles, helping to prove the effectiveness of hybrid and electric systems.   Now’s the time to embrace innovation. Let’s build smarter, more sustainable solutions together.   #AnythingThatMoves #hybridsystems #AxialFluxMotors #TurntideElectrification #Electrification

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Hyundai’s $12.6B Metaplant: A Glimpse into the Future of EV Manufacturing Hyundai’s state-of-the-art Metaplant in Savannah, Georgia is redefining the scale and ambition of EV and hybrid production in the U.S. The facility will produce Ioniq 5, Ioniq 9, and Kia EV models, with 8,500 employees driving a high-tech, fully integrated manufacturing ecosystem. This investment signals a bold step in localizing clean mobility and future-proofing the EV value chain What does this mean ? 1) A Strategic Win for U.S. Manufacturing: The Metaplant cements the U.S. as a critical hub in the global EV supply chain, reducing reliance on imports and accelerating domestic job creation in advanced manufacturing. 2. Driving Battery Innovation & Integration: By localizing EV battery module assembly, Hyundai enhances energy security, reduces logistics costs, and supports faster innovation cycles within North America. 3. Advancing ESG Impact at Scale: With clean energy use, automation, and sustainable design at its core, the Metaplant showcases ESG execution in action—not just in reporting. It raises the bar for green manufacturing standards. 4. Catalyzing the EV Ecosystem: This initiative will ripple across allied industries—charging infra, logistics, electronics, and rare earth materials—creating multiplier effects for suppliers, startups, and service providers alike. #EVManufacturin, #HyundaiMetaplant, #CleanMobility #SupplyChainInnovation, #SustainableManufacturing, #BatteryTech #ESGLeadership, #FutureOfAutomotive, #GreenIndustry

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Sustained ~252–291 GiB/s of HBM memory throughput on H100s under decode load — essentially hitting the hardware roofline. This matters because HBM throughput, not FLOPs, is the real bottleneck in LLM inference. By keeping memory nearly fully saturated, I’ve unlocked far higher efficiency and throughput than standard engines. The result: 0.9–1.36M tokens/sec with ~0.1 ms first-token latency  #AI #LLM #GPURouter #H100 #Inference #CostEfficiency #Innovation #DeepLearning #AIInfrastructure #HighPerformanceComputing NVIDIA AMD OpenAI Google Shilpa Kolhatkar Keith Strier a16z speedrun

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New release from Packt Publishing… “Building Business-Ready Generative #AI Systems — Build Human-Centered Generative AI Systems with Context-Aware Agents, Memory, and LLMs for the Enterprise” See it at https://amzn.to/3Jdcio5 𝓚𝓮𝔂 𝓕𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼: 🔵Build an adaptive, context-aware AI controller with advanced memory strategies 🟢Enhance GenAISys with multi-domain, multimodal reasoning capabilities and Chain of Thought (CoT) 🟠Seamlessly integrate cutting-edge OpenAI and DeepSeek models as you see fit

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Leveraging generative AI to enhance vehicle presentation and website performance. By intelligently filling in image gaps, we ensure CTAs are front and center. This technology maintains crystal-clear text for offers, even with multiple high-resolution images loading simultaneously, avoiding the typical website slowdown. The result? A polished consumer experience with fast load times and top scores in performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO. #GenerativeAI #DigitalMarketing #WebsitePerformance #Automotive #TechInnovation

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https://lnkd.in/e7b2vzn8 The US market in 4Q is poised for its first downturn since 3Q24. With inventory forecasted to remain below year-ago levels through the end of the year, fallout from tariff-related pull-ahead buying and the end of the electric vehicle (EV) credit, not to mention potential economic and politically charged headwinds, sales could literally tank from the 16.4 million annualized rate recorded in the first nine months of 2025. Still, though a downturn seems inevitable, it could be muted if buyers stay resilient after digesting the ’26-model price increases, which so far are not anywhere near the 10–15% increases thrown around when tariffs were first announced. It could also bode well if economic growth remains stable and the stock market continues record highs. Automakers could also spark more demand by offering year-end holiday deals (rather than cutting production). The outlook calls for 4Q to decline to an annualized rate of 15.3 million units, but with equal risk to both the downside and upside.

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Tesla created substantial option value: Direct: Energy storage business emerged from vehicle batteries Autonomous platform emerged from vehicle sensors/software Manufacturing innovations applicable beyond EVs Ecosystem: EV startup ecosystem enabled Legacy auto acceleration forced Battery industry transformation catalyzed Charging infrastructure becoming industry standard Societal: Faster decarbonization pathways enabled Climate policy became politically viable Industrial strategies shifted globally Many of these weren’t predictable in 2003 when Tesla founded, or even 2012 when Model S launched. They emerged as options because infrastructure existed.

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January's Automotive Market Minute Insights: 📈 2025 closed stronger than expected with New and Used vehicle sales both up ~2% YoY, making it the best sales year since 2019 at 16.3M units. 💪 December rebounded late in the month, reinforcing a resilient consumer despite higher expenses, lower gross, and a weak Q4 overall. 🏭 Factory incentives remained muted through Q4, proving consumers will still buy without heavy discounting at a ~16M unit pace. 💰 Tax return season is expected to be a major demand catalyst in Q1 2026, with refunds potentially ~$2,000 higher per household. 📉 Used car interest rates remain elevated at ~14.2%, with continued fallout expected from poorly underwritten subprime loans from prior years. 📦 Dealer inventory levels are healthy, with inventory-to-sales ratios near long-term norms, signaling no major overstock risk. 💵 A weaker U.S. dollar (down ~9% in 2025) is expected to favor import brands and pressure domestic pricing into early 2026. 🧾 Tariff impacts on new vehicles are already flowing into used pricing, especially for brands like Lexus and Mitsubishi. ⌚ Early resale (“puke rate”) data shows higher turnover in luxury vehicles, highlighting affordability stress among premium buyers. 🎯 Dealers with the right new/used inventory mix—not just deeper discounts—are best positioned to protect margins heading into 2026. Which of these trends are you watching most closely for Q1 2026, tax refunds, rates, inventory, or incentives? Drop your pick below 👇 and share this with a dealer friend who needs a quick market pulse.

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